Month: November 2008

Updated at 4:55 p.m. EST, Nov. 30, 2008At least five Iraqis were found dead and another two were wounded in an unusually quiet beginning to the workweek. No Coalition deaths were reported either. Still, a number of important news stories came out of Iraq today. The Iraqi court ordered the release a photojournalist in U.S. … Continue reading “Sunday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded”

A rocket attack in Baghdad killed three UN contractors and wounded 14 others near the international Green Zone. None of the victims were Iraqis. At least 44 Iraqis were also killed and 32 more Iraqis were wounded in separate attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the UN has delayed its report on disputed Kurdish … Continue reading “Saturday: 44 Iraqis, 3 Contractors Killed; 32 Iraqis, 14 Contractors Wounded”

KARACHI – Reporting from Peshawar – hub of Pakistan’s tribal areas, currently the focus of a pincer movement between the Pakistan army and the United States-led forces in neighboring Afghanistan – has become a highly risky affair. “I still can’t believe that I’m alive and talking to you,” said 34-year old Sami Yusufzai, reporter for … Continue reading “Reporting From Pakistani Tribal Areas Highly Risky”

KARACHI – The terrorist attacks unleashed in the Indian port city and financial hub of Mumbai continue to reverberate through Pakistan at a personal level and on the media. The crisis, that began Wednesday night and lasted through Friday, dominates conversation, newspaper headlines, television coverage and Internet chatter on indigenous websites and e-mail lists run … Continue reading “Empathy, Grief in Pakistan at Mumbai Mayhem”

According to a report by The Associated Press, Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, finds it "baffling" that there are apparently no commercial satellite pictures available of a site in Syria taken in the months just after the Israelis allegedly destroyed whatever was allegedly there prior to September 6th, 2007. Except, of … Continue reading “Smoking Satellite Pics”

Upon Barack Obama’s election, the Russians made threats to US allies over their acceptance of a US missile defense system. Also, Russia recently sent its first large military force to Latin America since the end of the Cold War to participate in naval exercises off the Venezuelan coast. Is this a flagrant test of a … Continue reading “Heed Russia’s Warnings About Further NATO Expansion”

Updated at 6:35 p.m. EST, Nov. 28, 2008Thousands of Sadr followers protested the passage of a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement during Friday prayers today, while a bomber targeted one of their mosques in Mussayab. At least 21 Iraqis were killed and 58 more were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, Japan announced the end of its air … Continue reading “Friday: 21 Iraqis Killed, 58 Wounded”

The decision by President-elect Barack Obama to keep Robert M. Gates on as defense secretary has touched off a debate over whether Obama can pursue his commitment to rapid withdrawal from Iraq even though Gates has defended George W. Bush’s surge policy and opposed Obama’s 16-month timetable for withdrawal. Obama did not explicitly address Iraq … Continue reading “JFK Episode Suggests Obama’s Iraq Plan at Risk”

Less than two months before taking office, President-elect Barack Obama is making clear that realists – some more identified with Republicans and the military than with Democrats – are likely to rule the incoming administration’s foreign policy roost, at least at the outset. While Obama is expected to formally unveil his Cabinet-level national-security picks Monday, … Continue reading “Obama Foreign Policy: Realists to Reign?”

Kurds are divided over a security pact between Iraq and the US, approved by a large majority in the Iraqi Parliament Thursday, in what appears to be a potential heavy blow to their major gains since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003. Despite the international media’s portrayal of unequivocal unified Kurdish support for … Continue reading “Kurds Anxious Over Security Pact”